Beauty and the Dork
by Fierce Kitten
Summary: pre book 9. Mark and Courtney have been friends for a long time now. Is it time to start thinking of being... a bit more? When Courtney discovers she has feelings for the adorale acolyte, there is only one question: is Mark off limits?
1. Chapter 1: Strawberry IceCream

**A/N: Hello, everyone in Halla! This is my second Pendragon fic. so be helpful, but don't be mean! This is a Mark x Courtney fic. just so'z ya know! (and didn't read the summary) Declaimer: I don't own Pendragon, D. J. Mchale(sp?) does! I'm('ve) writing(wrote) this before the ninth book comes out(came out) so, if it's a little off in a few months/years(today) don't blame me! ... man that was awkward! Hobby Ho! **

**Beauty and the Dork**

**Author: Fierce Kitten**

Chapter one: Strawberry Ice-cream

Courtney sat at the porch of the Dimonds' new home in England, on First Earth. She sat in the rocking chair, whistling a song that won't be created for years. Dodger was in the kitchen talking about work with Mr. Dimond, Mrs. Dimond was washing the laundry, and Mark was taking a shower. Courtney tried to get that last image out of her head; it wasn't right for her to have that image. She laughed when she thought of Mark's face if he knew she ever had that picture in her head. As if on cue, a voice came up from behind her.

"What's so funny?"

Courtney turned around to see Mark. His hair was dripping wet, and he was wearing a brown, cotton outfit. Courtney very much hated the fact that he got to wear pants and she was stuck with 'pretty' dresses, but she didn't complain... much.

"Nothing, nothing!" Courtney answered. Mark shrugged and sat down in the other rocker.

"What'ch you've been doin'?" he asked.

"Eh! Nothing much! Just hangin'!" Courtney crossed her legs and put her hands behind her head.

"Courtney! Mark!" cried Mrs. Dimond, "Big news! _Huge_ news!"

Mrs. Dimond ran onto the porch, "Oh, Mark, dry your hair, you're gonna catch a cold."

"It's a warm day, Mom. C'mon! What's the news?!"

"Yeah! Spill!" Courtney cheered.

"Okay, your father got a promotion, Mark! There's a big dinner dance and everything!"

"All right!" Courtney cheered.

"Dew on me! Oh, wait... is that even invented?"

"Er... I don't think so... uh," Courtney shrugged.

"It's tonight, so, I thought we'd celebrate with..." Mrs. Dimond took her hands from behind her back, "Ice cream!"

She handed Mark and Courtney each a cone of strawberry ice cream.

"Wow, thanks Mom!" Mark said, liking his ice cream.

Mrs. Dimond ran back inside the house. Courtney and Mark ate their ice cream happily.

Courtney opened her eyes, after closing them to enjoy the heat of the sun and the coolness of the strawberry treat. When she opened her eyes she gasped. Yes, gasped. The sun light hit Mark at just the right angle. It shimmered against his dark brown hair, and made his face look warm and welcoming. Courtney could feel her cheeks grow warm.

"You okay, Courtney?" Mark asked after turning his head to look at her, breaking the spell.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine! Really!"

Mark gave her a concerned look before taking another bite of the strawberry ice cream.

"Well, I hope so, if you're going to that dinner."


	2. Chapter 2: So Close

Chapter two: So Close 

"Ah!" Courtney gasped, clutching her chest.

"I know, I know! Sorry, but this is what proper young ladies were to these things in these days!" Mrs. Dimond apologized.

"Then I, ah, d-don't want to be a p-proper laaady!" Courtney gasped.

"I'm sorry."

"For wha'... ah! To tight! _To_ tight!" Courtney could barley get out those last four words. Mrs. Dimond loosened the straps of the girl's corset, so she could breathe.

"Are you girls almost done in there?" Mr. Dimond asked though the door.

"Almost!" Mrs. Dimond called. She helped Courtney off the stool.

"Doesn't she look like a princess?" Mrs. Dimond asked, as Courtney exited the bed room.

Mark's eyes grew wide. Probably from the shock of seeing Courtney in a corset. Dodger clapped as she won an award. Witch she should have. The 'I-can-breath-in-this-thing' award.

"Simply _stunning_!" Mr. Dimond said. Courtney forced out a smile. Then they left for the dinner.

"Ah! _So_ good to see you! And are _all_ of these yours?" Mr. Dimond's boss asked.

"Oh, no, sir! Only Mark, here! Dodger and Courtney are family friends."

"Very well, you have a seat at our table."

The man led them to a table near the dance floor. Mark and Courtney sat next to each other.

For most of the evening, the men discussed business, Mr. and Mrs. Dimond danced with the happy couples, and Mark and Courtney laughed at them. Things seemed to be going well, until...

"Mark! Courtney!" Mrs. Dimond pulled her son and the girl out of their chairs and positioned them on the dance floor.

"_Mom_!" Mark protested.

Mrs. Dimond laughed and left back to the table. The music started playing, and the other couples forced them to either start dancing to get trampled. They chose to dance.

Mark didn't miss a beat. Those dance lessons, that Bobby made fun of him for, really paid off. Courtney had a bit more trouble keeping up. She stepped on his foot twice.

The crowd of people around them grew denser, forcing them closer together. Eventually, they were so close that Courtney could feel Mark's heart beat next to hers.

Courtney was struggling for breath. She gripped Mark's hand tighter. Her palms were sweating. Her nails dug into Mark's shoulder. Her head felt light, and her body weak. Her arm trembled.

"I can't breathe," she gasped.

"What? We're just dancing, Court..."

"No, Mark, I really, ca', ah..."

Then everything fell into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3: Jacob

Chapter three: Jacob 

Courtney felt a weight on her bed. She didn't want to open her eyes. Her desire for sleep over ruled her curiosity for a time, but finally her need to know what it was, was too grate. She squinted her eyes, adjusting to the light, and then slowly opened them. She slowly sat up. She looked down to the heavy spot. Mark was asleep in a chair, with his head resting on the side of the bed. Courtney stared down at him for a minute, puzzled.

"I didn't have the heart to move him."

Courtney looked up to see Mrs. Dimond standing in the doorway. Looking at Courtney's puzzled look, Mrs. Dimond explained.

"You passed out on the dance floor. Those corsets should come with a 'warning' tag," Mrs. Dimond giggled as if she made a joke, "Well, Mark was worried. He insisted on waiting for you to wake up."

Mrs. Dimond left. Courtney looked back at Mark. She brushed his hair with her hand. He was a kind person. A complete worrywart, but kind.

She got out of bed and proceeded to get ready for the day in the bathroom.

Courtney ate her breakfast hungrily. She didn't eat a very big dinner the night before because the corset crushed her stomach.

Foot steps could be heard from the hallway. The foot steps stopped only a few feet behind Courtney. She turned around to see the new visitor. Mark was standing in the kitchen door frame, wiping the sleep out of his eye.

"You're up?" he crocked out.

"Yeah, how are you?"

"_I'm_ fine," he said, taking his chair at the table, "I'm not the one who _passed out_ on the dance floor. Am I really that bad a dancer?"

Courtney laughed. He was kidding. Good old Mark. He was always fun to have around, even if he was a dork.

"Hey, Missy, how's it going?" Dodger asked, entering the kitchen, "Didn't get your brain any more messed up than it is all ready, did ya?"

"Ha, ha! Very _funny_!" she flung a donut at the other acolyte. It hit Dodger square in the forehead.

"Ow," he said, taking a bite out of the baked weapon.

Mark and Courtney laughed as Dodger sat down.

"So that's a 'no'?" Dodger asked.

"My brain's not messed up at all!" Courtney retorted.

"Courtney, Courtney, Courtney. We're acolytes, our best friends' flume across time and space, all our brains are messed up."

"He has a point, Courtney," Mark said. Courtney hit him upside the head, playfully.

"Knock it off, you three! You're father's boss is coming over."

"What? Why?" Mark asked.

"He wants to apologize for what happened at dinner. You know, about Courtney."

"He doesn't have to," Courtney said.

"That's what I told him, but that man's so kind! He insisted!"

Courtney looked at Mark. He shrugged. They cleaned there plates and prepared for the man to come over.

"Hello!" Mr. Dimond's boss said, entering the house, "Again, I'm _terribly _sorry for what happened last night. I sure hope Miss Courtney is all right?"

"Yes, she's fine," Mr. Dimond answered.

"And I'm right here!" Courtney said, making herself known.

"Oh, right, I've got something for you!" The man pulled out something from his bag and handed it to Courtney, "It came _all the way_ from _Mexico_!" he announced.

"It's a wool blanket," Courtney said, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, yes, it is," the man said, scratching him head.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to use it... six months from now."

Mark snickered from the steps, and Courtney giggled at her own joke.

"Seriously, thanks! You really shouldn't have!" Courtney said, giving off a bit more courtesy.

"No, no! It was my party; the welfare of my guests is my _number one_ concern!"

"Well, thank you!" Mrs. Dimond said, entering the room.

Mark descended the stairs. He touched Courtney's new blanket.

"Its kind itchy..." he mentioned.

"Ah, yes! But in the winter, it'll keep you warm!"

"Well, that was very thoughtful of you!" Mrs. Dimond said, shaking his hand.

"We're very grateful for your kindness!" Mr. Dimond continued.

"Hum, oh! This is my nephew, Jacob!" he said, motioning for someone outside. A boy around Mark and Courtney's height entered the house. He smiled at them. He had sandy-red hair and green eyes.

"Hi!" he said.

"Er, hi," Mark said. Courtney just waved.

"Maybe the youngsters could hang out wile we talk?" Mr. Dimond's boss asked.

"Well, okay! I suppose!" Mr. Dimond said, "Mark? Courtney?"

"Er... okay," Mark said.

The grownups left for the kitchen, leaving Mark, Courtney, and Jacob alone.

"So, your Mark and Courtney?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah," Courtney said. Mark and Courtney were used to not trusting anyone new. That stuck with them.

"So, what do you guys do for fun in a place like this?" Jacob asked, "I'm from out of town, visiting my uncle."

"Well, nothing much," Mark said, "Just talk, I guess."

"Just talk? You don't play basketball?"

"I do," Courtney said.

"I can't," Mark said, scratching the back of his head.

"It's simple, really!" Jacob said.

"I've got two left feet and no hand/eye coadunation."

"He's hopeless!" Courtney said, with a laugh.

"_Very_ hopeless!" Mark added. Mark and Courtney laughed. Jacob stared at them.

"So, you two, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Mark and Courtney stopped laughing.

"E-excuse me?!" they asked in unison.

"You know, you two, are you..."

"_No_!" Courtney yelled, blushing.

"A-are y-you c-_crazy"_ Mark asked.

"Really? Because you two sure look like..."

"Listen, Buster!" Courtney yelled, grabbing him by the collar, "We are _not_ going out!"

"Uh, Courtney! Let go of his shirt!" Mark said.

Courtney reluctantly let go of the kid's shirt. She scowled at him. Mark patted Courtney on the shoulder.

"O-okay! N-now that w-we've set that s-strait, how about s-some c-cupcakes?"

Mark was changing the subject. He wanted out of that conversation. So, Courtney gave him the easy way out, and agreed. Mark got the cupcakes and they set up a place on the porch to eat them. Of course, Mark and Courtney sat on one corner of the blanket, wile Jacob sat on the other. They still didn't trust that kid. Jacob quietly ate his cupcake, not daring to speak. Eventually, Jacob and Mr. Dimond's boss left.

"I don't like that kid," Courtney said, bitterly.

"I don't think he liked you either."


	4. Chapter 4: The Most Beautiful Picture

Chapter four: The Most Beautiful Picture 

Courtney leaned on the hand railing. They were in an art museum. A very boring art museum. Mr. and Mrs. Dimond were simply fascinated with the art. Dodger was even a bit into it. Mark took a lot of notes. _Notes_! He didn't have anything better to do?

"Mark?" Courtney asked, "What kind of notes could you possibly take from looking at dumb famous pictures by dumb famous dead guys?"

"Notes?" Mark asked, looking up from his notepad, "Oh! Ah, w-well... l-like the t-texture... and... s-stuff."

Courtney raised an eyebrow at him, "You're not really taking notes, are you?"

"W-well, n-not really," he stammered.

"Then what _are_ you doing?" she asked.

"N-nothing real important. W-why do y-you care, a-anyway?"

"I didn't... until _now_. What are you doing over there?"

"Does it m-mater?" he confronted.

"I guess not..." she leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of what was on his notepad. Mark pressed it against him chest so that no one could see the pages.

Courtney grunted and went back to looking at the painting behind her. Mark started writing again; Courtney figured Mark should be able to have _some_ privacy.

"Why would someone paint the momalisa?" she asked.

"It's called the 'Mona Lisa'," Mark corrected.

"Yeah, that. It seams so pointless. It's of a woman smiling; what's so interesting about that?"

"Maybe the girl was the interesting thing," Mark suggested, "Stop fidgeting."

"Why?" Courtney asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well, i-it's not p-proper." He was lying, but Courtney let it slide.

"She seams so secretive," Courtney mentioned.

"That's one of the beauties of the picture. You get the feeling that she knows something you don't."

"I wonder if she was an acolyte, or a Traveler," Courtney asked.

"Maybe," Mark said, shrugging. Mark made a few more pencil strokes, then put his notepad away, "Well, off to the next painting." They stopped in front of one painting of a boy and girl sitting in pasture. The girl wore a silk blue dress that blew in the wind. Her hair was tied up in a topknot. The boy was holding hand with the girl. Both were smiling.

"Love scene. Probably from the artist's childhood... or maybe he was just passing by when he saw them," Mark commented.

"How would you know?" Courtney asked.

Mark shrugged, "I dunno, It's just a guess."

Courtney raised an eyebrow at him then looked back at the painting.

"Do you see what I see?" Mark asked.

"Er, a sunny meadow?" Courtney asked.

"No!" Mark laughed, "_Look_!"

He pointed to the scene in the far back of the picture. Courtney squinted. She was trying to make out what it was...

"The Manhattan Hotel!" Courtney gasped.

"Yup! It's the Bronks!" Mark said.

Courtney smiled. She liked seeing her hometown, even if it was years before she was born. But it also made her homesick. She looked away from the painting.

"What's next?" she asked.

"Er, how about that one?" he asked, pointing to the picture behind them. It was 'Starry Night'.

"Hum, look at all the swirls," Courtney said.

"It's my favorite," Mark said.

"Mine, too."

They stared at the painting.

"I've always wondered what the heck that black thing is," Courtney said.

"I think it's a tree," Mark answered.

"That pointy thing?" Courtney asked.

"Yup. It's a tree."

"_No way_!"

"It's a tree," Dodger said, coming up behind them.

"Told you," Mark said.

"I don't believe you."

"It's a tree," Mark insisted.

"Is not!"

"Oh, look at that! Starry Night! I just love that swirlly, pointy tree!" Mrs. Dimond exclaimed.

"See?" Dodger and Mark said in unison.

"All right! You win! It's a _tree_!"

"Oh, look at this one, yall!" Mr. Dimond said, pulling his wife to another painting.

The three acolytes followed. Courtney looked up at the painting. It was of a woman holding a child. The woman was in a periwinkle-blue dress, with her dark brown hair tumbling down her shoulders.

"It's so cute!" Mrs. Dimond exclaimed.

"It reminds me of you and Mark, when he was just a little baby!" Mr. Dimond said.

"You wrapped Mark in a tickle-me-pink blanket?" Courtney asked.

Mark blushed, wile Dodger, on the other hand, laughed his head off.

"Oh, well, no..." Mrs. Dimond said, blushing too.

"What I meant was, the way this gal is holding the baby," Mr. Dimond corrected.

Courtney giggled. After they finished looking at the museum, they headed out to the car.

"Oh! I forgot my wallet in the bathroom!" Mark exclaimed.

"_Mark_, you idiot!" Courtney scowled.

"Just give me a minute, I'll be right back!■ Mark said, placing his bag in the car.

Mark left and Courtney looked down at his bag. She couldn't take it anymore; she wanted to know what he had been writing. She leaned over the bag and slowly pulled out the notepad. She flipped through the pages, looking for the last one with markings. Sure enough, it had marking on it, they just weren't words. It was a drawing. A pretty good drawing for that matter. It was of a girl. Actually, to be precise, it was of Courtney.


	5. Chapter 5: Fear

Chapter five: Fear 

"All right! Got it!"

Courtney quickly stuffed the notebook back in his bag. Mark opened the car door and got in, jamming the wallet in his pocket.

"Anything stolen?" Courtney asked, trying not to let her voice show her nervousness.

"Yup, two bucks. Well, that's all I brought so... meh."

"_See_? You can't leave things like that lying around!" Courtney fake scolded. She ruffled Marks hair.

"Hey, you've got something in your hair," Mark said, reaching up to brush her hair with his hand. Courtney blushed from his soft touch.

"There, just a piece of lint!" he leaned back against his car seat and flicked the fuzzy lint off his fingers.

Courtney looked away from him, trying to disguise the blush across her face as the glare from the setting sun...

>> > > >

Courtney flinched. She could feel a presence beside her bed. She flinched a few more times before she let her eyes flutter open. Mark was leaning on his knees with his arm stretched out toward her shoulder.

"Is there some reason your watching me sleep?" she asked.

His cheeks grew deep red.

"I-I cam t-to wake y-you u-up," Mark stammered.

Courtney sat up. She fluffed her hair and looked at the clock.

"Why? Look at the time! It's so early!" she protested.

"Y-yeah, er, C-Courtney?" Mark stammered. This was too much. She could get being embarrassed that she said that he was watching her sleep but... something was up if he was still nervous.

"What is it, Mark?" Courtney asked.

"I-it's m-m-m-my m-m-m-mom... sh-she's a-a-a-at th-the h-ho-hospital..."

"What?!" Courtney gasped.

"Sh-she h-h-had an a-a-ac-accident. Sh-she f-f-fell w-walking d-d-down th-the s-st-stairs," Mark was in a panicky mood. His breathe was shaky and his hands shook aggressively.

Courtney put her hands on his shoulders, "It's going to be all right, Mark. Do you hear me? Everything is going to be fine. Can we get to the hospital?"

Mark nodded, "D-d-dodger's st-still h-here. H-he'll d-d-d-rive u-us."

"Okay, come on."


	6. Chapter 6: The Hospital

Chapter six: The Hospital 

Courtney let Mark use her shoulder for support going out to the car; mainly because she feared he'd fall and hurt himself otherwise. She gently lowered him into the car. He was shaking all over; then again, Courtney would be too.

Courtney got into the car next to him and Dodger took off. During the car ride, Mark gripped Courtney's hand for some unspoken moral support. Weather it was possible to have 'unspoken' moral support, Courtney didn't know, nor did she care. Mark had almost lost his parents once before, he wasn't prepared to go thought that again. The only light outside the car windows were from street lamps and fireflies. It was raining, too. That made the whole experience perfectly pitiful.

The closer they got to the hospital, the harder Mark squeezed her hand. It got to a point were, if she wasn't perfectly away that it was impossible, Courtney would have thought he was having twins. She was perfectly glad when he stopped crushing her hand, to bite his nails.

When they pulled into the parking lot, Mark was the first out of the car. He ran strait for the door. Courtney ran after him, and Dodger walked calmly behind.

"Excuse me!" Mark said, in a hurried tone, ⌠Where cam I find Mrs. Dimond? Spelled D-I-M-O-N-D?■

"Room 505, sir."

"Thank you," Courtney said. Mark wasn't so courteous. He ran strait for the elevator.

"Up, up, up, up, _up_!"

"All right, sir, calm yourself."

Courtney had just enough time to get in the elevator before the doors closed. On the elevator ride, Mark had a bit more control over himself, although his legs were trembling.

They hurried off to the waiting room and found Mr. Dimond. Mark hugged him dad. Courtney sat beside them. Nobody spoke. It was agonizing waiting. Watching doctors come in and out. People bursting into tears, both happy and sad. Eventually, a man in a white doctor suit approached them.

"Mr. Dimond?" the doctor asked.

"Yes?" he asked, jumping up.

"You're wife is fine. A few days of watching her, you know, make sure she's all right, and she'll be ready to go back home."

"Oh, that's grate news!" Mr. Dimond cheered.

"Hum, it gets better, after trying to figure out what caused the fall, we did a ultrsound. Sir, your wife's pregnant."

Mr. Dimond gasped. Mark's jaw dropped.

"Oh, Mark! That's wonderful! You're gonna be a big _brother_!"

"I'm gonna be a big brother," Mark repeated in disbelief. Courtney patted him on the back.

"And you were worried!" she teased. Mark gave her a surprised look. He started laughing. Courtney actually laughed too. It wasn't all that funny, but they laughed anyway. Courtney never pictured Mark as a 'big brother' type person. The simple idea would have made her giggle.

For the next few days, they stayed in the hospital. Finally, it was the day to leave.

"Mark, Courtney, you two can head on down stairs if you want," Mrs. Dimond said.

"Okay!" Mark said. He and Courtney headed for the elevators.

"Hey, going down!" Courtney cheered.

"No, Ma'am."

"Hugh?" Mark and Courtney asked.

The woman turned around. Courtney gasped. It was Nevva Winter.

"But... that's impossible," she whispered.

Nevva pressed the close button on the control panel. Then, that's when the strangeness happened, she transformed into a big black bird. The bird's claws scratched the controls during take off.

"No!" Mark exclaimed, pressing the buttons. Nothing made the doors stop closing. The bird escaped though the small space between the two doors.

"No! No! NO!" Mark yelled, pressing the buttons, "She closed us in! This can't be! Ah!" The controls sparked. "And the controls are toast!"

"B-but isn't there an emergency button?!"

"If there is, it's fried. Here's our emergency button: _HELP_!"


	7. Chapter 7: Kiss

Chapter seven: Kiss 

"We're gonna die."

Mark and Courtney had been trapped in the elevator for an hour.

"That makes me feel _loads_ better!" Courtney scowled.

"We're gonna die. I'm never gonna see my baby sister, _ever_."

"Don't say that."

"We're running out of oxygen, Courtney. We're gonna die."

"Don't talk like that."

"I haven't even really _lived_, and I'm gonna die. How's that fair?"

"We're acolytes, Mark, we've lived."

"No, I mean, gah! There are things I haven't done! Haven't said! How can it end here? In an elevator of all places!"

"We're not gonna die! Stop saying that!"

Mark held his knees.

"Courtney, what if we are?"

This though Courtney off. What was she supposed to say?

"Well, then what? We're in an elevator!"

"This."

Mark crawled over to her. Mark put his hand on her cheek. He was close. So close that Courtney could feel his breathe against her face. After the longest second of her life, Mark pressed him lips against hers.


	8. Chapter 8: Deadly Rescue

Chapter eight: Deadly Rescue 

The elevator lurched, throwing Mark away from Courtney. He tumbled across the elevator floor and hit his head against the wall: _Hard_.

There was a 'crack!' from up a head and the elevator sped downward. Courtney hurriedly crawled over to Mark.

"Mark? _Mark_?" she called to him.

Courtney checked his neck for a pulse. She found one. He was alive, but out cold. Courtney rested his head in her lap. She could hear the swishing of wind on the other side of the walls. Courtney gritted her teeth. Maybe Mark was right, maybe they were going to die. Maybe she wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Or, more importantly, maybe Mark wasn't. That drop took longer than Courtney thought would. She kept expecting to hit bottom any minute. She never liked those rides were they dropped you from a hundred feet, and it was supposed to be 'fun'. This was worse. Courtney clutched Mark's shoulders, waiting for the impact. It came. The elevator hit the ground with such force the doors' hinges came loose and the doors fell backward, nearly hitting Courtney. She bit her lip, hard. The ceiling partially collapsed. Bits of ceiling debris hit her from above.

"_Holy_!" she screeched, trembling. She couldn't believe that it wasn't worse than she imagened.

"Are you okay?!"

"What happened?"

"Where are you parents?"

"What's going on?"

Courtney was in a daze. Everything was fading into blackness. She could feel that she was being carried away somewhere. By who? And to where?


	9. Chapter 9: Acceptance

Chapter nine: Acceptance 

"M-Mark," Courtney whispered. Her eyes fluttered open. She was still in the hospital.

"You're up!" the nurse said, "You've been checked out all ready, no eternal injuries, no head trauma, nothing. It's really amazing! You're free to go!"

Courtney was lead down the stairs (out of request), and to the waiting room. Mrs. Dimond, who had been fussing over Mark, hurried over to her.

"Are you in any pain? Oh, look at those ban-aids on you face! You arm, does that gash hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," Courtney said, smiling up at her.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive!" Courtney said.

Mrs. Dimond lead her over to the others. Courtney smiled at Mark. He blushed and looked away. Suddenly, memories of yesterday flooded back to Courtney. Her cheeks grew pink as well.

They were lead out to the car and they rode back to the house in silence, neither daring to say a word to each other.

"Are you two all right back there?" Dodger asked, looking at them through the mirror.

"Fine." Courtney curled her hair. Mark nodded in Dodger's direction.

"Well, okay. You just seem pretty quiet, _Skirt_."

Dodger waited. The yelling he expected didn't come.

"All right, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Courtney lied. It was everything.

Dodger gave them a worried look, and then went back to concentrating on his driving.

They pulled up in the drive way, and Mark and Courtney got out on different sides of the car.

"You know, you could have saved opening a few doors by just picking one," Dodger mentioned. They didn't reply.

Courtney needed to get her act together. She was avoiding Mark! _Mark_! This was insane! But she didn't know what else to do. Mark didn't seam so keen on talking, but she really needed to.

It went on like that for a week. Yes, a whole week. Courtney couldn't take it anymore.

"Mark?" she said, coming up behind him. Mark jumped. They were visiting the park. Mark gripped the bench behind him.

"Y-yeah?" he asked. Great, stuttering. He was nervous. Grate way to start talking about it. _Not_.

"Um, well..." Courtney started fiddling with her fingers. She leaned against one foot, and then the other. Her heart was banging in her chest, threatening to come out.

Courtney took a deep breath, "Mark, about what happened on the elevator..."

"I shouldn't have done that," he said, avoiding her gaze.

Courtney stood there, not knowing what to say. She was glad when Mark finally spoke again.

"I don't know what came over me... why I did that... Maybe the lack of oxygen was getting to me. I don't want you to stop being my friend. After all, you like that... Spader... guy..."

"Spader? Is that what this is about?" she asked, looking him dead in the eye. Mark didn't reply. Courtney stepped closer to him.

"I don't... Mark I... I wont stop being your friend, no matter what! And... I..." it was Courtney's turn to avoid his gaze.

"I... I hope your lying about that lack of oxygen thing... because..." Courtney stepped even closer to him, "I, I, I! Ulg! I like you!"

Mark snapped a surprised look at her. Courtney turned a deep shade of red.

"I... like... you... and I... I may even... l-_love_... you," she chocked on the word 'love'. She winched, waiting for a reply. It didn't come. Instead, she felt those same soft lips that had graced her own old a week ago.


End file.
